Europeans Search for New
Trade Routes
In this lesson, students will be able to
define the following terms:
Reasons for European Exploration of New
Trade Routes
Prince Henry the Navigator
Bartholomeu Dias
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During the 1300s and 1400s, Arab
merchants carried goods from Asia
to the eastern end of the Mediterranean
Sea.
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Trade With Asia
•
During the 1300s and 1400s, Arab
merchants carried goods from Asia to the
eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.
•
Once Asian goods were brought to the
Mediterranean, Italian city-states
controlled the distribution of these goods.
•
However, other European countries
wanted to profit from this trade.
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Other European
countries
wanted
to profit from
trade
with Asia. They
began to search
for new
trade routes.
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Prince Henry the Navigator
• Prince Henry the Navigator helped the
Portuguese with their search.
• He established a school for geographers,
astronomers, and mapmakers.
• The Portuguese searched for new trade
routes with Asia.
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Prince Henry
the Navigator
was determined
to help
Portuguese
explorers
discover new
trade routes.
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Bartholomeu Dias
• In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias sailed around
(circumnavigated) the southern tip of
Africa.
• Dias named the southern tip of Africa, the
Cape of Storms. However, the king of
Portugal renamed it the “Cape of Good
Hope.”
• The King did not want to frighten future
explorers.
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Dias was the first European explorer
to circumnavigate Africa.
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Shifting Trade Routes
• As Europeans discovered that it was
possible to circumnavigate Africa, they
began to search for new trade routes.
• New trade routes would weaken the Italian
city-states control of trade with Asia.
• New trade routes could greatly increase a
nation’s revenue.
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Once Dias proved that the circumnavigation
of Africa was possible, others followed.
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Vasco da Gama found an all-water
to Asia in 1498.
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New trade routes shifted trade from
the Silk Road to the oceans and seas.
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European ships began exploring
the seas and oceans in search of
new trade routes.
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Questions for Reflection:
• What was the Silk Road and how did the
Italian city-states benefit from trade with
Asia?
• Why did European nations begin to search
for new trade routes?
• Who was Prince Henry the Navigator and
how did he help explorers?
• Who was Bartholomeu Dias and what did
he prove?
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